Bullet Points
ints |episode = 4 |runtime = 45 minutes |season = 4 |image = BB_404_S.jpg |airdate = August 7, 2011 |writer = Moira Walley-Beckett |director = Colin Bucksey |previous = |next = |synopsis = The Cartel takes steps to gain the upper hand. Walt and Skyler share an embarrassing secret with the rest of the family. Jesse’s activities draw unwanted attention. |viewers = 1.83 million }} "Bullet Points" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of Breaking Bad and the thirty-seventh episode altogether. Teaser Mike Ehrmantraut huddles inside a Los Pollos Hermanos refrigerated truck driving down a rural highway. The peace is suddenly interrupted by the sound of screeching tires as the truck is forced off the road by armed cartel gunmen. Recognizing that they're being attacked, Mike pulls out his pistol and cautiously listens as the gunmen pull the driver out of the cab and shoot him in the head. Mike hunkers down and draws a pistol as the two gunmen raise MP5K submachine guns and open fire on the truck, riddling it with bullets. Thinking that they've killed anyone inside, the gunmen break open the back doors. The moment they step up, Mike pops up from behind some boxes and shoots both of them, killing them instantly. Mike holsters his pistol and climbs out of the truck. As he assesses the damage, he finds that a bullet has torn off a small piece of his right ear. He pokes at it, rolls his eyes, and swears under his breath... Summary In town, Skyler White and Walter White attend a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. Back at the house, they study card-counting strategies, rehearsing Skyler's scheme to convince the family that Walt won their car wash seed money by playing blackjack. After Walt loses several hands, they decide to emphasize his struggle to recover, rather than his skills. Skyler hands Walt a meticulously detailed script she wants them to follow at dinner with Hank Schrader, Marie Schrader, and Walter White Jr. Walt is very dissatisfied with the script and reluctantly agrees to cooperate. He further reminds Skyler that he has been and still is providing for the family and is frustrated Skyler is painting him out to look so bad. "At least you've got skills," Skyler shoots back, "I'm just the bitch mom who wouldn't cut you any slack." Walt reassesses his attitude and again apologises to Skyler for getting her involved in this whole situation. At the Schrader home that night, Hank shows Walt and Walter, Jr. a DVD of Gale Boetticher singing karaoke, which was part of the package that was given to Hank in the last episode. Hank revels in mocking Gale's tape, which he finds hilarious. Walt is gobsmacked when he realises who's on the video and becomes increasingly uneasy, reminded of the murder, as he watches. At dinner, Skyler and Walt successfully pull off their made-up story, convincing other people that Walt indeed has a gambling problem. Walt is silently amazed at Skyler's tears-on-cue performance. Walt Jr. is most impressed and hopeful this means he'll be getting the car he's been pestering about for his birthday. Walt, to avoid all the questions, excuses himself to the bathroom but instead steals away to Hank's bedroom spying for information on Gale's murder. He shuffles through the files, is disconcerted by some crime scene shots of Gale's bloodied corpse, before finding Gale's lab notes. Just then he hears something, quickly puts back the file and runs out... In the hallway, Walt almost collides into Hank in his wheelchair. Hank offers Walt a listening ear if ever he needs due to his gambling issues, and Walt seizes the opportunity and hints that he could equally look at the Gale Boetticher case for Hank, so they end up in Hank's bedroom, again looking over the files. Walt browses through Gale's lab notes from the superlab looking for any evidence that can be traced back to Jesse or himself. Hank believes Gale was Heisenberg, lamenting that he should've been the one to take him down. Walt asks more questions about the case, and Hank replies that there isn't much progress except some fingerprints. Walt rushes to Jesse's house and asks him about any kind of evidence he might have left behind at Gale's place. Jesse, after being reminded about the murder, is speechless and can't seem to focus, unwilling to relive the experience. Walt insists that Jesse try to remember the event step by step, if he's sure he left no finger prints, but Jesse can't take it anymore and forces Walt out of the house by paying two of his 'guests' $100 each to play bouncer. The next day, Walt tells Saul Goodman he fears that Hank will connect Jesse to the murder. Saul says there's nothing to worry about, but Walt catalogs his woes: Gustavo Fring wants to kill him, Jesse is out of control and Gus will eventually perceive Jesse as too big a risk. There's also "this stupid car wash" he's buying with Skyler, who naively thinks Walt can just walk away after his contract with Gus expires. Saul mentions that as a last resort, Walt can pay to have a “disappearer” vanish his family off the grid and set them up with new identities, but it should be a "last resort end-game" thing. Walt contemplates but rejects the idea, and they're stuck at an impasse. The next morning, a tweaker watches Jesse head to his bedroom and come back with a wad of cash to keep the party going before leaving for work. He connects the dots: there's money to be had upstairs. At the lab, Walt watches as the camera follows Jesse's every move—his worry over his partner amps up. Jesse returns home and tosses the party guests some meth. He takes one of the party girls by the hand and takes her to his bedroom. In there, Jesse notices his money is missing but is eerily calm about it—he begins playing a videogame with the girls, nonchalantly. He really has hit rock-bottom beyond caring. The next morning, Mike wakes Jesse and drags him downstairs, where the tweaker thief is blindfolded, beaten and a little worse for wear, on the floor beside Jesse's bag of cash and Tyrus Kitt. Mike makes him aware of the theft. Jesse coolly takes his money and walks away, telling Mike he isn't going to promise to "straighten up and fly right." "You're on thin ice, you little shithead," Mike responds, asking if Jesse wants to know what will happen to the tweaker now. Jesse laughs. He knows Mike doesn't intend to kill the thief because he took the time to blindfold him. And either way, he doesn't seem to care what happens to him or the thief. He's not afraid of anything right now. Mike meets with Gus and explains that Jesse is becoming a liability. Walt may not like it, Mike continues, but something has to be done. In the lab, an incensed Walt tries in vain to reach Jesse as he handles the cook by himself. Afterwards, he rushes to Jesse's house cursing him all the way, where he finds Jesse's cell phone on the bedside table but no sign of his partner. Walt returns to the lab. “Where is he?” Walt growls at the security camera. Mike, driving on the highway with Jesse beside him, asks if Jesse wants to know where they're going. Calm, unaffected, Jesse says, "Nope," and they drive off into the desert. Official Photos Episode-4-Walt.jpg Episode-4-Saul.jpg episode-4-gus-mike.jpg episode-4-jesse-2.jpg episode-4-walt-2.jpg episode-4-jesse-3.jpg episode-4-saul-walt.jpg episode-4-jesse.jpg episode-4-mike.jpg episode-4-mike-jesse.jpg Trivia *When Walt skims through Gale's notes at the Schraders' house, a Ron Paul 2008 sticker can be seen on one of the pages. Also, at one point, a comic strip from Gary Larson can be seen. *To create the bullet holes that strike the truck Mike is hiding inside, the special effects department drilled, wired and hand-planted 380 squib explosives onto the truck, including 150 on each side of the vehicle and 80 for the back door. Two sets of the back door were used, one for the view of shots being fired at the exterior of the door and one for the view of the interior. *For the scene with Mike waiting inside the refrigeration truck, series creator Vince Gilligan wanted audiences to be able to see his breath so they would know how cold it was. To create that effect, the special effects crew designed a tiny plastic box with holes in it and placed dry ice inside, which Banks kept inside his mouth to create condensation when he exhaled. The idea was based on a similar device film director Frank Capra previously used with his actors in one of his films, which Gilligan read about in Capra's autobiography. *The title "Bullet Points" is a possible triple reference, possibly to the Los Pollos Hermanos truck being shot at in the teaser; the bullet points Skyler used in the faux gambling addiction script that she and Walt were reading; and the discussion between Walt and Jesse about shooting Gale. Production Credits Starring= Starring *Bryan Cranston as Walter White *Anna Gunn as Skyler White *Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman *Dean Norris as Hank Schrader *Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader *RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr. *Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman *Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo Fring *Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut |-| Guest Starring= Guest Starring *David Costabile as Gale Boetticher *Jeremy Howard as Sketchy |-| Co-Starring= Co-Starring *Ray Campbell as Tyrus *Frank Andrade as Tweaker Thief *Paul Neis as Support Group Leader *Brittany Gustin as Morning After Girl |-| Uncredited= Uncredited *Anthony Molinari as Gunman #1 *Marco Morales as Gunman #2 Featured Music *'"Days Like This"' by Melani L. Skybell (in the background as the Whites arrive at the Schrader residence) *'"Major Tom (Coming Home)"' by Peter Schilling, performed by David Costabile as Gale Boetticher (in the video shown to Walt & Walt Jr. by Hank) *'"Flyentology (Cassettes Won't Listen Remix)"' by El-P (feat. Trent Reznor) (playing at Jesse's house when Walt talks with him about Gale's murder) *'"Break"' by Crown City Rockers (when Jesse wakes up his "guests" in the morning) *'"The 808 Track" '''by Bassnectar (feat. Mighty High Coup) (when Jesse returns home from work) *'"Searching for Jesse"''' by Dave Porter (when Walt looks for Jesse at his home and during the end credits) Memorable Quotes es:Bullet Points de:Abgehakt Category:Breaking Bad episodes Category:Season 4 episodes